December 15, 2006

 

Overview

 

Afghan President says Pakistan government responsible for violence

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday (December 13) accused Pakistan for continuing violence in his country. Just hours after a suicide bombing at the governor's office in the southern province of Kandahar, which left eight people dead, Karzai, who was visiting Kandahar, told reporters, "The problem is not Taliban. We don't see it that way. The problem is with Pakistan." He further added, "The state of Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, so we presume if there is still any Taliban, that they are being supported by a state element." Karzai's remarks against Pakistan have been the most direct and strongly-worded so far, and are likely to draw a strong response. Pakistani officials have maintained that violence in Afghanistan and its root problems are taking place well within Afghan borders.

 

Afghan refugee registration drive in Pakistan surpasses 800,000 mark

The Afghan refugee registration campaign in Pakistan is gained momentum on Friday (December 15) as it entered into final weeks. According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan, as of Thursday (December 14) more than 836,000 Afghan refugees have registered with Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), which is carrying out US$6-million campaign funded by the UN refugee agency. The registration campaign, which began on October 15, is scheduled to conclude on December 31. According to Pakistani authorities, Afghans that fail to register would be considered illegal. UNHCR has said it will provide future assistance only to registered refugees. During the registration drive, an estimated 2.8 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan will be provided with identity cards valid for three years, that recognize them as Afghan citizens living in the country temporarily. However, the campaign had a slow start due to a widespread perception among refugees that it was aimed at deporting them. Currently, the UNHCR says some 20,000 refugees have been registering every day.

 

Violence claims at least 17 lives in Afghanistan's south and east

Continuing violence claimed more than a dozen lives in separate incidents across Afghanistan's restive south and east this week. Eight people, including four policemen, two soldiers and two civilians, were killed and several others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the compound of the Afghan provincial governor in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, in southern Helmand province on Tuesday (December 12). Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which he claimed was carried out by Helmand resident Mullah Famiullah. Meanwhile, five people, including an eight-year-old girl, were also killed on Tuesday in a military operation by US-led troops in the southeastern province of Khost. According to reports, all the victims were civilians. At least five people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan's restive south on Thursday (December 14). The attack took place near the city of Qalat in Helmand province when a bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police car. The attack took place shortly after a convoy of presidential security guards, which was on its way to capital Kabul, passed through the area. According to reports, President Karzai's security guards appeared to be the intended target of the attack.

 

Afghanistan's Taliban backs away from joining tribal jirgas

On Monday (December 11), the Taliban backed away from earlier comments that they might join in tribal jirgas (councils) aimed at ending growing violence in Afghanistan. Speaking to Reuters over the phone from an undisclosed location, Sayed Tayeb, a senior Taliban spokesman, said the Taliban would never join any tribal talks as long as foreign troops remained in the country. He said the proposed tribal councils (jirgas) were aimed at protecting American interests only and were not independent. Also, Pakistan and Afghanistan has yet to reach an agreement on holding the jirgas. Afghanistan wants to include all Afghan tribes in the consultations, but Pakistan wants the jirgas to be restricted to the border tribes, which are essentially ethnic Pashtun. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri was in Kabul last week to hold talks with Afghan officials, but both sides failed to reach an agreement.

 

Movement

 

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran; Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

 

2006 UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006; The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan will close two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

 

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

 

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

 

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics.

 

In 2006, UNHCR/IOM will assist with IDP returns and initial integration and then terminate the program. The recognized IDP population is about 150,000 with 120,000 in the south, including 45,000 in the Zhare Dasht camp near Kandahar, 15,000 in the west, mostly in Herat’s Maslakh camp, and 12,000 elsewhere.

 

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

 

 

 

 

 

Central Region

 

 

 

East Central Region

 

 

Eastern Region

 

 

Northeastern Region

 

 

Northern Region

 

 

Southern Region

 

 

Southern Region IDP camps

 

Location	Zhare Dasht - South of Kandahar – 6 camps
Type	IDP Camp
Coordination	UNHCR
Camp Capacity	30,000; expandable to 60,000
Population	125,000 IDPs in south; 48,500 at Zhare Dasht
Movement IDP	An estimated
Food	WFP
Health	UNICEF, MSF;
NFIs - Shelter
Security
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

 

 

 

Western Region

 

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population	12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food	WFP has sent 127 tons of food assistance for some 3,515 flood-affected families in Badghis province. (OCHA, Nov. 23) IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP;
Health	One case of polio reported in Farah. (UNAMA, Nov. 6) Bulgaria to send two medical experts to join eight Bulgarian medics at a Spanish field hospital in Herat as part of ISAF support. (GORB, Sep. 21) MSF, MDM, Order of Malta, CHA, IbniSina, HRS; ICRC; UNICEF;
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	UNHCR sent 50 tents, 1,000 blankets, 500 plastic sheets, 20 jerry cans and 500 lanterns for flood victims in Badghis. (OCHA, Nov. 23) UNHCR, Iranian Red Crescent, UNICEF, IOM, Ockenden Int’l, MSF, IMC;
Security	Lithuanian led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) sets up four police check points on the main routes into provincial capital Chagcharan in Ghowr province to help Afghan National Police. (NATO, Nov. 7)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Flash floods triggered by torrential rains killed at least 66 people in Badghis, along the Murghab River, affecting some 3,515 families and causing significant loss to livestock. Some 100 still missing. (OCHA, Nov. 23)

 

 

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

 

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	UNHCR.
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	Estimated 2.6 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 10 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan;
Refugee Movement	UNHCR-assisted returns resumed on March 1. All FATA camps have been closed. 445,000 Afghans returned home from Pakistan in 2005—two thirds were long-term refugees; Pakistan to close Giordi Jungle and Pir Alizai camps in Baloshistan, and Kacha Gari camp in NWFP by the end of July, 2006. (UNNC, June 2). The 250,000 residents will either return to Afghanistan or be relocated to Mohammad Kheil camp, near Quetta in Baluchistan, or ten camps in NWFP.
Food	WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security	Pakistani security force of 70,000 to 80,000 reports having border areas secured; Significant clashes between Pakistani government forces and others in border province areas; “Finger-pointing” between Afghan and Pakistan leaders over curbing Taliban and Al-Qaeda along shared border areas
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments	More than 343,000 Afghan refugees have registered so far in the UNHCR-funded campaign aimed at registering an estimated 2.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. (IRIN, Nov. 20)